Could not quite push through

Set scores kept getting closer but Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn was unable to overtake Remsen St. Mary's in a War Eagle Conference match on Sept. 21. St. Mary's (1A No. 10) swept H-M-S by scores of 25-16, 25-18, 25-23.

"I really felt like we did a lot of good things against a solid team," Hawk coach Cheryl Kroese observed. "Our passing was consistent and we were constantly getting a hand on the block."

During the final set, H-M-S cut the margin to two or three points but St. Mary's would respond and extend it back to five or six.

"I challenged the girls to get to that two or three points and then push through it and they did. We had it tied up at 23-23 and just couldn't finish," Kroese said.

The Hawks' statistics were generally better than their rated hosts. They had more kills (20-18), fewer attack errors and more digs (58-28). St. Mary's did have a sizable advantage in serving. They were 70-of-75 with 11 aces while H-M-S was 52-of-58 with five aces.

Individual servers were Kylee Schiphoff 16-of-17 with three aces, Frankie Mohni 11-of-14 with two aces, Eliza Tewes 10-of-10, Kinsey Schirmer 6-of-6, Abby Douma 5-of-5 and Moriah Otto 4-of-6.

Leaders in digs were Tewes with 14, Lindsey Van Es with 13, Mohni with seven, Otto and Schirmer with six, Douma with five and Schiphoff with four.

Douma finished with eight kills, Schiphoff had six and Otto added four. Mohni contributed 18 set assists.

• Winless at home tourney

H-M-S played two close matches in pool play but failed to earn a win at its home tournament on Sept. 23.

During a 2-1 loss to Okoboji (13-21, 21-19, 2-15), the Hawks trailed throughout the first set and had to rally in the second to stay alive. The Pioneers raced out to a 12-0 lead in the tie-breaker and cruised to the win.

The Hawks suffered another 2-1 loss against South O'Brien (21-17, 15-21, 8-15). They overcame an early deficit in the first set but could not do the same in the second. The Wolverines took the early lead in the third set and went on to win the match.

H-M-S was swept in the final pool match by Rock Valley (6-21, 13-21).

The Hawks recorded 43 kills, led by Schiphoff with 15, Douma with 13 and Otto with seven. Mohni was credited with 31 set assists.

Leaders in the back row were Van Es with 18 digs, Tewes with 15, Mohni with 13 and Schirmer with 12.

Serving totals were Schirmer 20-of-21 with three aces; Tewes 19-of-22 with four aces, Van Es 15-of-15, Otto 12-of-12, Schiphoff 13-of-16 and Mohni 12-of-14.

Rock Valley won Pool A and Sioux City West won Pool B. The Rockets defeated the Wolverines in the championship match, 2-1.

H-M-S (4-10, 1-2) plays at South O'Brien on Sept. 28 and Harris-Lake Park on Oct. 3.